


Hannibal’s Night Terrors

by that_squishy_robot



Series: How to Deal with your Cannibal Boyfriend [2]
Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: AU, Angst, Cliche, Cuddling, Established Relationship, Everyone is Happy Healthy and alive AU, Fluff, Hannibal Lecter Loves Will Graham, Hannigram - Freeform, M/M, Nightmares, Will Graham Loves Hannibal Lecter, Will dies a lot, dont care, hannibal had feelings, its just a dream though, liked this better, season 1 AU, was going to be in a one shot book
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-25
Updated: 2018-08-25
Packaged: 2019-07-02 09:20:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15793608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/that_squishy_robot/pseuds/that_squishy_robot
Summary: Hannibal has graphic nightmares about killing Will. In trying to figure out what it means, he learns something interesting.





	Hannibal’s Night Terrors

**Author's Note:**

> Had this is a one shot book, but this seemed like more fun!

_Hannibal had Will pinned to the mattress, hands on his feverously warmed skin. However, this was not one of their many nights together. No, Hannibal had his hands around Will’s throat, effectively cutting off his air._

_He watched Will cough and gasp for breath he would not catch. There were tears streaming down his face, as he fruitlessly gripped at Hannibal’s wrists to make him let go._

_However, Hannibal couldn’t let go. He was trying. God, he was trying, but every time he tried to pull away, he just pressed down harder. Hannibal tried to call out. Say that he wasn't doing this, that he wasn’t hurting Will._

_Will’s neck snapped under the pressure. The sound was sickening and filled the quiet room. There was no going back. The last thing Hannibal saw, was the broken, terrified look in Will’s eyes._

~  
Hannibal woke up with Will’s name dying on his lips. He reached over to the cold side of the bed, frantically looking for his mongoose.

He of course knew that this was simply a nightmare. That Will was fine, where ever he was.

However, it was a vivid nightmare, that Hannibal didn’t want to try and remedy without Will in his arms.

Hannibal climbed out of bed, and quickly made his way out of the room without bothering to change out of his sleep wear. He didn’t know if Will had left yet, or if he even work today. Neither of those facts mattered now. Hannibal would drive all the way to the BAU in his pajamas if he needed to.

The idea seemed like real possibility, considering he couldn’t seem to find Will anywhere in the house.

Hannibal made it halfway out the front door, before he realized he forgot to check the kitchen. The most obvious place in the house.

Will had not been in the kitchen, however there was a hot cup of coffee waiting patiently on the cabinet.

It seemed Will, was simply sitting on the patio, looking out onto the frost covered garden.

Hannibal took a deep breath to calm himself. As much as he wanted to pull Will into his arms, it would do no good to go out there a mess. Will would spot his distress from a mile away.

He took a drink of his coffee, smiling when it was made just the way he liked it.

After calming down, and mentally scolding himself for the whole episode, Hannibal joined Will outside.

He wrapped his arms around Will from behind. He still smelled of his terrible after shave… Which in its own way was quite soothing.

“Good morning, Mongoose.” Hannibal said, glad to hear his voice showed no trace of his panic from earlier. “You seemed to have left me alone in bed this morning.” 

“And I see that you ignored your shoes and coat to come get me.” Will laughed. He broke free of Hannibal’s hold and took off his jacket.

Before Hannibal could protest, the jacket was draped over his shoulders. Will proceeded to take his pace back against Hannibal’s chest.

Hannibal simply smiled, burying his face in the curve of his mongoose’s neck. His soft, unbroken neck. The two of them stayed outside a bit longer, before going in for breakfast.

~

_There was blood everywhere. On the walls, on his hands. Hannibal was holding the source of it in his arms. He had slit Will’s throat with no warning or antagonization._

_Hannibal had caught him before his fell, dropping the knife to be somewhere lost in the kitchen._

_Will was gasping for breath, but every time he tried to breath, he simply choked on his blood._

_He looked at Hannibal, eyes begging for him to just end it_

_As much as Hannibal fought against his own mind to stop the bleeding, to save Will… He did nothing. He simply watched the man he cared for most slowly die in his arms._

~

Apparently waking up alone in bed, thrashing around to find Will, was going to become a habit.

Hannibal breathed. He was at home in bed.... It was four a.m. Will was not here.

He was safe at home in his own bed. Probably surrounded by his pack of mangey strays.

Will was perfectly fine.

Will was fine. Hannibal repeated as he showered and changed clothes.

Will was fine. He said, when making a light breakfast he knew his mongoose would like.

Will was fine. He reassured, when making the long drive to Wolftrap.  
~~~

“No.” Was all said in the way of a greeting, when Hannibal showed up at the door. 

It was six a.m. now, and Will was still in his T-shirt and boxers. Hannibal would have used his key but found he preferred to have Will come to him.

“Will, I…”

“No.” Will pulled him inside the warm house and slammed the door. “Lose the suit.”

“This is the only thing I have brought with me to wear.” Hannibal could forgive Will for his rudeness for the moment. It was quite early, and he had shown up out of nowhere.

“Then you should take it off if you don’t want it ruined.”

Sighing Hannibal did what he was told. “Are you happy now, Mongoose?” He asked mildly annoyed and almost fully naked. 

“Just about.” Will pushed him onto the bed and crawled on top of him.

While the morning seemed like it would end in pleasant sleepy sex, it sadly did not. Instead Will threw the blanket over them.

“Now go the fuck to sleep.”

Hannibal sighed. His darling, always the poet. While he didn’t see the appeal in going back to sleep, Will’s warm body and calm heartbeat had other ideas.

Perhaps he could simply let Will’s presence whisk him away.

~

_Will was strapped to his kill table in the basement. His chest had been opened, and blood was slowly running down the drain. He was trying to speak, but his mouth was to full of blood to get much more than choking sounds._

_Hannibal thought that he was able to make out the words, please and stop. However, he could have just as easily been begging to die. He watched as tears rolled down Will’s face, only to be lost in the mess of crimson that surrounded him._

_Hannibal gently ran his gloved hands through his mongoose’s hair. He repeated the words ‘I love you’ and ‘forgive me please’, over and over in several different languages._

_Only after saying it once in English, did he finally put Will out of his misery._

~

When Hannibal woke up, he did not frantically search the bed for Will, or seek confirmation that his nightmare was only a nightmare. He simply laid in bed, waiting for his elevated heartbeat to slow down, and for the images of Will begging for his life to fade away.

It was still dark outside, so there was no point in leaving his bed. Will was on a case out of town, and there for safe from him.

The two of them had chatted over video call, just before heading to bed.

Will was alive.

Hannibal was tired.

Perhaps it was time he finally spoke with his own psychologist. So far, she had never lead him astray. Maybe she will even have some sort of answer to why he can’t stop thinking of killing the one person who could truly see him.

~~~

“It’s been a while, Hannibal.” Doctor Du-Maurier had said, when he took the seat across from her.

“I suppose it has.”

“Is there a particular reason for that? I thought you had left me to enjoy my retirement.”

Hannibal simply smiled. This was how most of their sessions went after all. “A pity, really. Depriving our field of your expertise.”

“My expertise says you are deflecting.” Bedelia said, pouring herself a glass of wine. Another typical part of their sessions together.

“I suppose I am.”

“Would you like to elaborate, or are you simply paying to spend time in my company?”

“I do enjoy your company, Doctor. However, I believe there is something I would like to get off my chest.” Hannibal said.

“Please explain.”

“I have seemed to be subjected to night terrors more often than not.”

“Do they share the same theme?” Bedelia asked, taking a drink of her wine.

“They do.”

“Hannibal. We will not get anywhere if you are only vaguely answering my questions.”

Hannibal thought about how he should word his next few sentences. There was no doubt that Bedelia has had patients to tell her that they have dreamed about killing their partner. However, he did not want to let her peak too much behind his own veil. “You are aware of my relationship with Will Graham, yes?”

“He often comes up during our sessions.”

“I have found myself dreaming that I have lost him, often to my own doing.” Hannibal explained, not quite wanting to bring up the images of a bloody Will Graham begging to die quickly.

“I never took you for the sentimental type.”

“I am certainly not… However, I believe that I am quite attached to Will.”

“And how does Mr. Graham feel about this?” Doctor Du-Maurier asked.

“We have yet to discuss it.”

“Do you worry that Will may not feel the same type of attachment you do?”

Hannibal simply smiled. “I believe Will is just as attached to me. He understands me better than anyone else and is still here.”

“Then does he understand what he means to you?”

“I would hope so. We spend most of our time together after all.”

“Hoping and knowing are quite different, Hannibal. Is there anything that may give you doubt?”

Hannibal thought about it. Over all, he and Will had been honest with each other. Will was always happy to spend time with him as well… However, there were times when Will would withdraw from him out of nowhere. There were even more times where Will joked about Hannibal killing him.

He frowned. It never occurred to him that Will may not understand Hannibal’s feelings for him.

“Hannibal. There is a chance that both of you have insecurities about your relationship. You could be feeding off Mr. Graham’s own insecurities.”  
~

_Hannibal can barely feel the drag of the knife as he runs it across Will’s stomach. He’s too focused on Will’s wide eyes. There was no fear. No look of shock or betrayal. It was like he knew this would happen._

_Hannibal stuck in the motions, could only hold Will close to his chest. He listened as his heavy breathing started to get shallower. As his grip slowly eased away._

_This was only a dream. He just had to get through it and wake up. Then he could hold the living breathing Will Graham in his arms and everything would be ok._

_However, instead of slowly waking up in his own bed, he was been shaken. He could hear his name being called louder and louder._

_It made his head hurt. What was going on? Why couldn’t he get away from what was happening?_

_When he came to, someone was shaking him._

_Hannibal easily grabbed them and snapped their neck._

_It had been reflex._

_Will was lying on the ground._

_It had been reflex._

_Hannibal grabbed him, wrapping his still warm body in a crushing hold against his chest._

_It had been reflex._

_He knew he was dead. That it was quick and painless._

_It had been reflex._

_But that didn’t stop him from silently begging for Will to open his eyes._  
~

Hannibal fell out of bed when he jerked awake. It was quite undignified; however it was the last thing he was going to worry about.

Will was not in bed. His side had gone cold.

It sent a wave of panic through Hannibal. He couldn’t find it in himself to try to rationalize his nightmare.

None of it mattered. He just wanted to find Will… What was he even doing out of bed at three a.m.?

For a moment Hannibal entertained the thought of his last nightmare being reality. He knew it wasn’t the case, but that didn’t stop him from running out of the room to find Will.

The upstairs was completely dark, but the light in the living room was on.

Will was standing there with a tumbler of whiskey in his hand.

“Sorry, did I wake you?” Will asked. “Sometimes I forget you’re a light sleeper.”

Hannibal didn’t reply. Instead moved to join him with perhaps too much force. He grabbed Will into a too tight hug, making him drop the glass of whiskey. It shattered on the hardwood.

“Woah. Hannibal. What’s going on? Are you ok?”

“Fine, Mongoose.” He said, burying his face in Will’s curls. He was vaguely aware that his was slowly pushing him backwards against the wall, until…

“Ow. Fuck!” Will shouted, jerking away from Hannibal. It seemed that he stepped on a large piece of glass, embedding it deeply in the middle of his bare foot.

~~~

Hannibal wondered when he had gained the ability to feel guilt. The word was barely in his vocabulary, but here he was feeling quite terrible that he caused Will to hurt himself.

They had moved to the kitchen to take care of the injury. Somehow it had been done without tracking blood all through the living room. Considering Hannibal’s particular hobby, perhaps it was not that odd.

“Will, may I ask why you are up so early?” Hannibal asked, bandaging up Will’s foot.

“Only if you tell me why you were having a panic attack so early.”

“Quid pro quo?”

“I’d expect nothing less.” Will smiled, however it dropped almost soon after. “It was just more nightmares. I came down here to sleep on the couch, so I wouldn’t wake you up.”

“What did you dream of?”

“Don’t want to talk about it. Plus, it’s your turn anyway.”

“I suppose it is.” Hannibal sighed. “I myself have been experiencing nightmares more often than not as well.”

“Ugh. You’re going to make me talk about mine to get anything out of you, aren't you?”

“That is the nature of Quid pro quo, after all.”

Fine. Alright, don’t be upset…. but to be honest, I keep dreaming of us killing each other.” Will admitted, leaning back in his chair. He closed his eyes and rubbed them as if to get rid of the memories.

Hannibal stopped working on Will’s bandages, to see his eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner, Will? Is this something you dream about often?” Perhaps Bedelia had been right, but to have Will generally worry about this, was quite disheartening.

“Quid pro quo.” Will reminded.

Hannibal sighed. He supposed the root of this was from the fact they didn’t trust each other enough. The only way to remedy that would be to come clean. “My more recent nightmares have been about me killing you.”

“Ah. Well this is interesting. Any theories?”

“Bedelia believes we are feeding off each other’s insecurities. At least that was her explanation about my own night terrors.”

“It’d be hard to believe that you suffer from insecurities, Doctor Lecter.”

“Perhaps, but what about you, Will? Have you ever worried that I may kill you? That our relationship is not all that it seems.”

Will didn’t answer, but the way he avoided looking at Hannibal gave him the answer he needed.

“I see.” He was trying to keep on a mask of indifference, but he had never wanted Will to feel unsafe around him.

“Don’t give me that.” Will sighed, rubbing his temples. “I mean how long do I really have? I know you, Hannibal. You find me interesting now, but eventually you’re going to see all my tricks and get bored. What happens after that? I know so many of your secrets. It’s not like we could break up like a normal couple.”

“Are you unhappy, with our relationship?” Hannibal wasn’t sure how he should feel about that. They had rushed into their feelings for each other quite quickly. Will could easily be having second thoughts about being the lover of a serial killer. What would Hannibal even do? His nightmares proved that he could not simply kill him. It would be like destroying a part of himself.

“Of course not. This is the happiest I’ve been in a long time. But Hannibal it’s not me that you even have feelings for. You like my empathy and ability to understand you. It’s not like I would even be your type outside of that. To be honest it feels like I am just using you because of that.” Will explained.

Hannibal gently took Will’s face in his hands. “Will… I must admit that what first attracted me to you, was your empathy. Knowing that you were they only person who could catch me. It was quite interesting.” He explained, not missing the somewhat hurt look in Will’s eyes.

“However, that is before we began our relationship. I have come to enjoy the boring times we have on occasion. The times when we lay on the couch simply to read or watch those dreadful shows you enjoy. There is no push or pull, it is simply existing. I would change nothing about you, my dear mongoose. Of course, I enjoy dressing you up, I still love you this way. There is no type that you must fit into.”

“You love me?” Will asked suddenly, breaking Hannibal from his speech.

“I…” Hannibal hadn’t even realized that he said it, but it was true. Wasn’t it. There was no one who could replace Will in his life. There was no one else he could feel so exposed with. “...suppose I do. Although I had always hoped if I were to profess my love to you, it would be under more unforgettable circumstances.”

“I think this is pretty unforgettable.” Will laughed. “...But Hannibal, you know that I can never be who you want me to be. I never want to kill someone unless it’s a life of death situation.”

“Will, there will always be a part of me that longs to you covered in someone’s blood, chasing away your moral compass. I do not think that will change. However, our lives together now are enough. They always will be.”

Will was the one who connected their lips in a long-awaited kiss, that simply ended to soon. “I love you too, Hannibal.”

“Will, you do not have to…”

“Say it back? Hannibal, do you really think I would shack up with a cannibalistic serial killer if I didn’t love them?”

“I would hope not.”

“Exactly.” And Will kissed him again.


End file.
